An Effective Journey
by UltimateEnigmatic
Summary: The Tetris Effect; a phenomenon which occurs when one devotes so much time into one thing, that it begins to pattern their thoughts, their actions, and their vision. Are the Ultimates of Hope's Peak any different. Classes 77, 78, and 79 watch Former Ultimate Tetris, Hoshizora Kame, play through the Journey Mode of the game named after this discovery. (Rated T because of foul-mouths
1. LEVEL 0: ENTRY GRANTED

(?'s POV)

One of the first formal studies of the phenomenon was at Harvard Medical School in the year 2000. Those who participated had played the game for seven hours each over the course of three days. Remarkably, sixty-three percent of the participants reported seeing imagery from the game hours after they had finished playing. Most commonly, when they were just falling asleep. ON its own, this fact, itself, was quite extraordinary. However, the biggest surprise was that amnesiac patients with brain damage that prevents them from forming new memories had also reported seeing game imagery well after they had finished playing. Those participants were unable to recall ever playing the game at all, but their descriptions completely matched those of players with perfect memories. Blocks. They all saw blocks falling from space, sometimes rotating or fitting neatly into empty spaces between other blocks. Most of the time, those blocks fell in conjoined sets of four. Some participants had also reported seeing completed lines disappearing. This was a phenomenon that had held a deep place in my heart. The very same game that was conducted in this experiment was the game that was my childhood. The game that I had always held close, no matter what, where, or when. Name; Hoshizora Kame. Age; 28 Origin; Sapporo, Japan. Current Residence; Worcester, Massachussetts. Occupation; Professional Gamer. College Education; Massachussetts Institute of Technology. High School Education; Deep Well High School. High School Diploma Received; Hope's Peak Academy. For me, the game has been more than just a hobby, but a way of life. If you want my honest opinion, no other game manages to be able to determine one's skill, be a source of relaxation, be as enthralling, or be as competitive than this. And to think that the game that was once my Ultimate Title was used as a scientific breakthrough. In fact, the researchers gave this phenomenon a name…

(Chiaki's POV)

"Tetris Effect?" Hajime asks me. Hajime Hinata, a long-time friend of mine, and member of the Reserve Course. He's a bit of a realist when it comes to, well, actually just about everything. But all of his friends, myself included, know that he's always trying his best. As for me, I am Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer. For as long as I've known, games have been a specialty of mine. They've brought people together. More prominently, at least for me, it's managed to bring together my class and two other classes of underclassmen. And today, I'm showing a new game that's been on my eye lately.

Tetris Effect, a Playstation 4 exclusive game. It utilizes every mechanic from modern Tetris, but it puts more of an emphasis on the Effect part of the title. Unlike the traditional Tetris theme many gamers have come to recognize, the music in this game is well varied, and the background matches the BGM as well. Interestingly, the game also has it so that your actions in the game make sounds and musical notes alongside the game's music as well. I've seen a few full playthroughs of the game's 'Journey Mode', which takes you through every music stage. Also, the Zone mechanic implemented in the game is interesting. While active, the blocks stop falling and cleared lines are sent to the bottom of the screen. It's a short period of time that allows the player to clear as many lines as they can. Once they reach the top of the screen or time runs out, the Zone ends, all complete lines are removed, and the remaining Minos drop down. It's really interesting.

"Yeah, I've been keeping my eye on it for a while. I really hope to play it someday. Though it could be a bit pricey…" I admit. Hajime raises an eyebrow. "How much is it?" he asks. "Oh, the game I can buy. About ¥4400. But…" I drag out. "Ah. No PS4?" He asks. I nod my head 'yes'. "It's not a big problem. Besides, Hoshizora prolongs his playthroughs of the game because, he himself said, he wants his viewers to be immersed in the music, not the gameplay. I'll be satisfied watching his playthroughs." I say. "Pardon me, did you happen to say, 'Hoshizora'?" We hear a man's voice say. We both look up.

He was a man with a dark blue long-sleeved shirt and grey jeans. His shoes looked a bit formal and were entirely black. He had obviously dyed his hair green, and it was in a bowl-haircut. "Yes. He's a regular Tetris player and streamer on Twitch and YouTube. You know him?" I inform and ask him. "Know him? I should. That is me, after all." He chuckles. Wait, what? "Hoshizora Kame. I use my first name online. Nice to meet you two." Hoshizora reaches out for a handshake from both of us. "Hajime Hinata…" Hajime says. "Chiaki Nanami." I said. We awkwardly accept. Who wouldn't? I mean, a well-known internet persona is in front of you in person. It feels exciting, and also terrifying. "Are you two students here?" He asks. "Well, technically not me." Hajime admits. "Oh?" Hoshizora looks intrigued. "Reserve Course." I tell him. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that. But I suppose all schools do change once you leave them." He says. "You were a student here?" Hajime asks. "Yes. Ultimate Tetris. I remember the good ol' days with my class. I remember everyone gathering watching me play. Sometimes, I even got challengers. No one, not even the Ultimate Arcade Player, who was an upperclassman of mine, could beat me." Hoshizora reminisces. "Oh. I have the title of Ultimate Gamer. Maybe we could play a game of Battle?" I offer. "I'll warn you, she's pretty good at just about every video game there is." Hajime says. I puff my cheeks a little at Hajime giving him help. "Thanks, but I didn't earn the title for fun. Even though I've been long gone from here, the title's kind of stuck." Hoshizora says. And with that, we fire up our games and prepare to do Tetris Battle.

(20 Minutes Later…)

"Ah. I lost." It was best 3 of 5, and Hoshizora came out on top, 3-1. "I can definitely see how you've earned your title. Definitely gave me a good run for my money there. However, there's a reason my title has been maintained for a good decade now." Hoshizora says. We had both gave it our best, using the best techniques we could. From T-Spins to Back-to-Backs, we both pushed for victory. I won the first game because I got lucky with a triple Perfect Clear. But after that, it was a battle of attrition and speed. And Hoshizora was faster. "Well then… Hm. Still have plenty of time." Hoshizora checks his watch. "What for?" Hajime asks. "I bet you're wondering why I'm here. Am I wrong?" Hoshizora asks. We both nod in response. "Well, I was invited here. Before he became the headmaster you know now, Jin Kirigiri was my teacher. He was once the Ultimate Detective, a title that, I've heard, has been passed down to his daughter and someone else." Hajime decides to speak up. "Shuichi Saihara?" Hoshizora shrugs. "I never got their name, so I suppose so. Anyway, my old teacher called me up all the way over in America asking for a favor. Considering how thankful I was for his guidance to what I am now, how could I refuse? So here I am." Hoshizora states. "I should probably start heading down there right now. You'll be okay?" We both nod. "Well, then I'm off. Nice meeting you. And thanks for the game, Chi- Oof… silly me. Forgot I was in Japan again. I can never remember the honorifics after I moved halfway across the planet. Thank you for playing, Nanami-san." And with that, Hoshizora Kame had left for Kirigiri's office, allegedly.

But here's the thing, it wasn't even three minutes before my teacher, Chisa Yukizome, came over to us. Yukizome-sensei is friendly, lively, and quite quirky. She does odd things sometimes, but she is always doing her best to make sure we do our best. In short, she's the perfect teacher for us. "Oh there you are, Nanami-san. Hi Hinata-san. Anyway, come with me. There's an assembly going on, and attendance is mandatory! Oh, and you're coming too, Hinata-san." What? We look at each other and we're both confused. What assembly? And why is Hajime going with us? I don't have time to answer my questions as Yukizome-sensei is, quite literally, dragging us to the assembly hall.

What could be in store for us?

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LEVEL 0: ENTRY GRANTED

COMPLETE

 **Author's Notes**

 **I do not own Danganronpa, any of it's characters, or Tetris. I only own Hoshizora Kame.**

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

 **Sorry about the sudden shut-down. It's just that… things sometimes happen, and it doesn't put you in the mood to write this stuff. I'll be blunt; Someone very close to me, close to everyone in my family, has passed on. Died 12/28. Christmastime had messed with my schedule horribly. I had to push back typing this stuff a deadline. But after losing someone dear to my heart, I couldn't bring myself to write. I knew New Years would elevate my spirits a bit, which is why this is happening. But, I had to prolong the releases of countless stories because of this. Please do try to understand. The new release dates of the next chapters of all other stories with be on my profile shortly after this gets published. In addition, this story will be a daily thing, but I will also be writing my other stories as well. I'm going to be pretty busy during January, I can already tell. Regardless, I wish you all a Happy New Year, and may fortune smile upon 2019. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


	2. LEVEL 1: THE DEEP

(Chiaki's POV)

"It seems everyone has arrived." Headmaster Jin Kirigiri declared. Looking around, I did indeed see the familiar faces of Classes 78 and 79. My class was also here. "Everyone, I have gathered you all here for a special purpose. A former student form here will explain the rest." Kirigiri-sensei said. He then gestured someone to come on stage. To my surprise, it was Hoshizora Kame. "I'll leave you to it." Kirigiri-sensei said, and then he left. What did they have planned for us?

"Greetings. I am Hoshizora Kame. And while I could certainly just tell you my talent, I will show you what I was, and still am, in just a moment. But before that, a brief lesson. Now it has been scientifically proven that it is entirely possible that pouring hours and hours on end into one certain thing, whether it be a sport, occupation, or a simple hobby, it begins to influence your personality. You'll soon find yourself thinking of your current situation as if it were the same thing as what you were fixated on. Your actions will be reminiscent of what you were doing for a long time, and you may not even realize it. In fact, you may even start seeing things that aren't really there. But those illusionary images may just reflect what you dedicate yourself to. This phenomenon, believe it or not, actually has a name." After that, Kame-san turned on a small monitor that displayed the title screen of a very familiar game.

"It's called the Tetris Effect?" I heard someone say. If I had to guess, it was Byakuya Togami, Ultimate Affluent Progeny. Togami-san may be arrogant and reserved, but he mostly just wants to work alone. Of course, that really didn't stop Class 78's class rep, Makoto Naegi from trying to be his friend. Surprisingly, he succeeded. "Indeed. However, this is not always a bad thing. Because I believe that such a singularity in your mind can lead you to find out who you truly want to believe in life. Thanks to a few of my former classmates, in addition to some of those with you now…" Most likely Kazuichi Soda, Chihiro Fujisaki, and Miu Iruma, who are Ultimate Mechanic, Programmer, and Inventor respectively. Soda-kun is very emotional and jumpy, often leading him into being the butt of a joke. But he's got a good heart, and he's more than willing to help his friends out. Fujisaki-san is very intelligent, but she's rather timid. However, she's extremely kind to everyone. Even if some of them act like jerks. Iruma-san is an… odd one. She's very openly vulgar, boisterous, and eccentric. However, she has also been confirmed, by numerous students, to be openly perverted as well. Almost to the point that it makes Hanamura-san have a good moral compass. Hoshizora pulls out a mysterious sphere, and continues on. "… I'm going to lead you on a more spiritual journey to discover your inner self. And no need to just stare at the screen. Although that is all I will see in another room, this special projector will display all not only the game, yes it is a game, but also the various images that comes with it. While the main game will only appear in front of you, the images will appear all around you. Think of it as a planetarium, if you will. Feel free to talk quietly amongst yourselves if you wish. And please, do enjoy yourselves." And with that, Hoshizora walked off stage, presumably into the special room. After two minutes, the entire room went dark.

Looking forward, the game had started as well, but the score, time, Zone meter, and speed level were hidden. Probably intentional. However, what interested me were the Minos themselves. They were aquatic in appearance and took on a blue and cyan color scheme. I knew what this was, this was the first level of Tetris Effect. To think, I'm going to see a Hoshizora run of the game live in person. It's very exciting. As the pieces moved, circular particles of the same color as the pieces started spiraling around. In addition, I could hear the familiar humming sounds of a chorus and a beginning of a theatric orchestrated piece. Listening in, I heard a few of the others talk about what they were seeing. "I mean, it does look nice." Hiyoko Saionji, Ultimate traditional Dancer admits. Saionji-san can best be described as direct. She speaks what's on her mind without a problem. While some of it can be rather insulting, she does care for her friends around her. She's just horrible at showing it. "So we're just watching some guy play Tetris? Kinda boring…" Kaito Momota, Ultimate Astronaut, says. Oh just you wait Momota-kun. Momota-kun is very passionate about, actually, just about anything. He's always giving people encouragement when they need it, and he always knows what to say to give you help. He may be comical sometimes, but there's no denying he's got a good heart. "So, is this it?" Hajime asks me from my right. "Just wait. Things only get more interesting from here." I assure him. I look around and see Fujisaki-san, Iruma-san, and Soda-kun smiling, as if they're expecting it. They must have been informed of this ahead of time. Regardless, the moment soon arrives, as Hoshizora clears this first set of lines with a perfectly set T-Spin Triple.

As soon as the lines disappear, small blue fishes swim around fast for brief moment before slowing down. However, to most of our surprise, the fishes swim around the entire room. I heard collective whispers of amazement around the room. "Okay, I take it back. This is really cool." Momota-kun said. And it's just beginning. I lean toward Soda-kun, who happened to be on my left. "Did you guys know this would happen?" I asked him. "We only know about the first level. Everything afterwards is all new to us." Soda-kun informs me. He clears five more lines in a combo of 3. Afterwards, light cymbal sounds start playing to a set beat. On the floor, a few undersea rock formations could be seen. And all around, more fishes started appearing. Just like Hoshizora to want his audience to enjoy the music rather than playing optimally. He could have easily breezed through this level in seconds, but it took him roughly a minute to clear just 8 lines. However, he quickly sets up and completes two T-Spin Doubles in 10. And then sets up a Perfect Clear Tetris. How? He's just that good. He stalls a bit for the right moment, and then he clears the first Tetris of this run.

A whale-like sound can be heard, and rocks and fishes dematerialize. The particles reform into five manta rays swimming around entire assembly hall. The ceiling had a feint globe of the earth spinning slowly. The beat became more distinguished with a every fourth beat of the measure having a distinguishing sound. Every other time it would switch between a clap and a bass drum beat. "Okay, this is really cool!" Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Baseball Star, remarked. Kuwata-kun is rather hot-blooded, and actually doesn't like his talent at all. But he's fairly easy to hang out with, and instantly became a friendly face around the academy. Hoshizora is timing it perfectly so that his movements coincide with the music, just as he always does. But I waited with bated breath for the real kicker. The lyrics. _"Every passing day, the winds might blow stronger."_ This caught a lot of people off guard. I don't think anyone was expecting that to happen. But the lyrics do carry a certain charm to them. _"Joy to light the way to keep the reminder."_ For those lyrics actually carry a deeper meaning than face value. What could easily be seen as a simple feel-good song has more to it. _"Every passing day, the winds might blow stronger."_ However, those parts were omitted here. They are sung later, and that's when I'll tell you what they truly mean. Believe me, it's beautiful. _"Joy to light the way to keep the reminder."_

After the lyrics went on, Hoshizora perfectly set it up to clear two lines every clapping sound. As he did, the mantas swam faster for a moment, and the beat was still beautiful. It flowed perfectly into the next transition. The globe became more apparent with a sunrise coming from the northeast. The fishes had returned and swam all around the globe. The manta rays became particles that formed a massive whale. And the piece movement echoed light piano keys being played. But no one had time to compliment it as the lyrics returned. _"I'm yours forever. There is no end in sight for us. Nothing could measure the kind of strength inside our hearts. It's all connected, we're all together in this life don't you forget it. We're all connected in this. I'm yours forever. There is no end in sight for us. Nothing could measure the kind of strength inside our hearts. It's all connected, we're all together in this life don't you forget it. We're all connected in this love."_ The orchestra opening sound faded out in favor of a violin string flow, but the beats still persisted. There's still more to the song though, but I'm not telling you what it was. Not when I knew what was coming next.

During the second half of the chorus, Hoshizora cleared a line in a combo every fourth beat to the clap or the bass. He had cleared a total of forty lines. He had full Zone. He set up a four-wide well in the center and began stacking to the top. When he activated Zone, the background did not change, but it did decline in speed. But as always, the audio became dropped a little. Every line he cleared in easy succession, a short piano incline played. After 10 lines, some whales spoke as well. He got 18 lines in Zone before a top-out, but what remained fell to the bottom to the board. The lines that were cleared did not fly around everywhere. Instead, a large school of fishes replaced the blocks and THOSE flew around. Everywhere. I could've sworn I felt one of them touch me. This immersive experience is really something else. Pretty much everyone was awed by the spectacle. I was watching the game, but I couldn't keep my eyes away from the surroundings. Truly a sight to behold. And it's only the first level. After Hoshizora cleared 48 lines, the music dropped in favor of a drum beat that quickly escalated in speed before transitioning to the next level.

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LEVEL 1: THE DEEP

COMPLETE

 **Author's Notes**

 **I guess now I should take the time to say this is a Non-Despair AU. It's be in the description, but I ran out of space and rating disclaimers had to go first. Yes, our resident foul-mouths are going to spill some bad ones, unfortunately. For those of you who have played or seen Tetris Effect, you'll know what levels come next. However, Chiaki is not going to be our only POV this time around. Take any wild guesses as to who's POV will be on which level if you want. Please do. This would've been written earlier today, but if you were given Hamilton tickets to see the show with your family, you'd probably say yes. Until next time, I'll stay Enigmatic.**

 **-UltimateEnigmatic**


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